Page 52 of Love on the Byline

A little shiver passed through her. Ollie watched it happen,and it took everything in him not to haul her into his arms. He straightenedhis glasses.

“After,” she said. “This—” she paused to gesture betweenthem, “stays inside the bottle until after. I won’t compromise myself. We canbe friends.”

“Understood.” He nodded, his heart doing somersaults in hischest. “Friends.”

Her eyes said for now.

This fucking interview couldn’t be over soon enough.

11

When Blake got home, she brewed a pot of PG Tips and openedher laptop. Tomorrow, she’d likely be heading down to La Jolla, and she stilldidn’t know how to feel about that. A quick call to Gideon had resulted in herearning carte blanche to get whatever she needed to see this assignmentthrough.

“Whatcha working on?” Enid slid into the chair oppositeBlake’s and plucked a banana from the fruit bowl between them. “And what’s withthe bag, you going somewhere?”

“I’m hoping I don’t have to, but I have that ready just incase.” She flipped her notebook over and angled her laptop away from Enid’swandering eyes.

“In case of what?” When Blake didn’t respond, Enid sighed.“Oh, it’s like that?”

“Sorry, but yeah. I can’t talk about it.”

Shrugging, her roomie took a bite of the banana. “What aboutthe other thing, your pet project?”

Blake smiled. “Yeah, that’s actually been good.” Sheshuffled through her notebooks until she found the right one. “I went to thisplace that works with kids, teaching them acting and dance, et cetera, and I foundout a few of their students have fallen victim to Diamond Moon.”

“Victim how?” Enid finished off the banana, tossing the peelin the general direction of the sink.

Rolling her eyes, Blake got up to retrieve it. “They danglemoney or clothes and high-end sneakers in front of them, sometimes chat up theparents, promising to help improve their lives.”

“Svengali bullshit,” Enid spat.

“Exactly.” She tossed the peel into the garbage can before sittingdown again. “I have a lead on one of the kids they allegedly signed. The dealwent…really far south, and I have reason to believe some really shady thingshappened.”

“And you’re writing this for the Gazette?”

“Uh huh,” she replied, noncommittally. She pulled her laptopclose and focused on the open document. When Enid didn’t say anything, Blakepeeked over the top of the screen. Sighing, she sat back in the uncomfortablekitchen chair. “Fine, I’m hoping the Editor-in-Chief will take a lookwhen I’m done.”

“And publish it?”

“Of course. Why do you ask like that?”

“Because it’s the Gazette,” Enid said incredulously. “Whywouldn’t you shop it around?”

“Yeah, because that’s a thing people do in my position.”

“What position is that, exactly?”

“The bottom, Enid,” she replied. “I’m on the bottom rung ofthe ladder. Hell, I’m still on the ground, one foot hovering over that firstrung. I’m fighting for the right to ascend those first few inches. Sisyphuslooking up the hill.”

“You’re thinking old school. There are plenty of online outlets.”When Blake shook her head, her roommate smirked. “Well, you’re definitely awriter. I’ll give you that. Sisyphus? Really?”

“Shut up.” Laughing, she threw a grape at her nosy, annoyingroomie. “Where’s Cora?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, she moved out.”

“What?” Blake hadn’t seen her for a few days, but that wasnormal. Cora was rarely home, but she’d paid her share of the rent andutilities on time every month. “Do you have someone lined up to take her room?”

“Not yet, so I need to ask you to—”

---